8:54 am, April 28, 2023
The government has welcomed the creation of a new industry body to champion the EV charger cause.
Car charging rivals have collaborated to create ChargeUK – a trade association that will fight for improvements to the country’s electric car charging network.
The founding 18 members have pledged to invest £6bn in installing and operating new EV infrastructure by 2030.
They plan to install ‘tens of thousands’ of new chargers this year with the aim of doubling the existing network.
Jesse Norman, transport decarbonisation and technology minister said: ‘The launch of ChargeUK shows how industry working together, alongside the government, can release private investment, improve delivery, raise standards and promote the use of electric vehicle charging infrastructure for drivers across the country.
‘Our commitment to decarbonising transport, backed by hundreds of millions in funding, has helped to unlock private sector investment, and the ambitious plans of ChargeUK’s members will support more people than ever make the transition to EVs.’
The UK’s charging network is well behind what experts believe is needed to help the industry’s transition to electric cars by 2030.
Experts say the UK will need at least 300,000 public chargers to help cope with demand come 2030 – but as of the end of January 2023 there were just 37,851 points across just over 22,000 sites.
In March, the government pledged £400m to improve the UK’s struggling network with cash allocated to improve the infrastructure and on-street charging in residential areas.
Problems with accessing chargers made national newspaper headlines during the Christmas holidays when EV drivers were forced to wait for hours to access a charger. Drivers often report points across the UK are broken or too busy to use.
Some experts have cited buyers’ concerns over the cost of electric and the poor UK charging infrastructure as a cause for recent price drops of used EVs.
ChargeUK now plans to work with the government to ‘help shape the policies and regulations’ needed to move the country towards its eco goals.
Operators included in ChargeUK
- Be.EV
- Believ
- bp pulse
- char.gy
- ChargePoint
- Connected Kerb
- ESB
- Equans
- evyve
- Fastned
- GRIDSERVE
- IONITY
- Mer
- Osprey
- Pod Point
- PoGo Charge
- Shell Recharge
- RAW Charging
Ian Johnston, chair of ChargeUK and CEO of Osprey Charging Network, said: ‘The formation of ChargeUK is an exciting day and is a demonstration of the electric vehicle charging industry’s growing size and importance to the UK economy.
‘Together we are investing billions of pounds to get more charge points in the ground right across the country. These numbers reinforce our commitment to the UK’s Net Zero future.’
ChargeUK says the founding members will have a ‘vital role’ in helping the UK transition to Net Zero.
Its inaugural Annual General Meeting (AGM) will take place at the Fully Charged Live event at Farnborough International Exhibition and Conference Centre.
